As a longtime subscriber, I wish to know why Kim Shanahan is still writing for this newspaper. The man does not live in Santa Fe. He does not live in New Mexico. He doesn’t even live in the U.S.
Yet, we are weekly exposed to his opinions in his Building Santa Fe column. Shanahan is a builder and developer whose interest is building and ever more development. His column (“New roads will unlock growth south of I-25, Building Santa Fe, Sept. 1) is scary as he shills for development of thousands and thousands of acres of land south of Interstate 25.
There was not one word of the one essential element missing from his grandiose hyperventilating.
From where comes the water to support thousands of homes on top of the overbuilding already afflicting Santa Fe with urban sprawl? To wit: Along Governor Miles Road, the clustered apartment buildings adjoining the Santa Fe Mall, and the drab, ugly Stalinesque army barracks apartments gracing I-25 by Exit 178.
I once wrote Shanahan, asking how much actual water is in the so-called “water bank?” His terse reply was that I was “uninformed.” Braying about the excellent water “conservation” of Santa Feans obviously is no assurance that there is sufficient water for even the housing now under construction.
The mayor, city councilors and the planners basically rubber stamp every proposal put before them to build more houses with a fixation on “affordable housing.” The current push to erect a huge lithium battery array by Santa Fe Community College is another dangerous boondoggle without one word as to the source of all the water such a facility will require, not to speak of water necessary to put out fires raging from a lithium-fueled accident.
Shanahan pompously and callously dismisses concerns of home and property owners anxious to preserve the value of their homes and green spaces as “not in my neighborhood” knee-jerk reactions.
What about those of us living here who are already tired of living in Blue Democratic-controlled New Mexico? We are now No. 1 in U.S. for crime and last on the list of education, with daily incidents of rising crime, homeless vagrants damaging private property, drug users threatening drivers as they beg on street corners; growing traffic congestion; and continued blasts of loud mufflers. There’s a general decline in quality of living in a once charming and unique city.
What we need is a clean sweep to oust the lame mayor, the numb City Council and planners committed to building, building and more building. We need a sufficient police force to enforce law and order. We need prosecutors who hold criminals to account and quit weaseling out with easy, no-work plea bargains.
What we need also is a moratorium on building until water resources can be assured to support any and all new development of houses and apartments.
Meanwhile, The New Mexican is long overdue for a columnist to replace Shanahan. When will this happen??
The Santa Fe New Mexican observes its 175th anniversary with a series highlighting some of the major stories and figures that have appeared in the paper's pages through its history. The collection also includes archival photo galleries.
